Axis, in crystallography, any of a set of lines used to describe the orderly arrangement of atoms in a crystal. If each atom or group of atoms is represented by a dot, or lattice point, and these points are connected, the resulting lattice may be divided into a number of identical blocks, or unit cells. The intersecting edges of one of these unit cells are chosen as the crystallographic axes, and their lengths are called lattice constants. The relative lengths of these edges and the angles between them place the solid into one of the seven crystal systems. (Seecrystal.) The position of an atom within a unit cell is given in terms of the crystallographic axes, and planes in the crystal are described using the axes.

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any of the forms of silicon dioxide (SiO 2), including quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, coesite, stishovite, lechatelierite, and chalcedony. Various kinds of silica minerals have been produced synthetically; one is keatite.

...crystal symmetry, they are isometric, hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, and triclinic. The systems may be described in terms of crystallographic axes used for reference. The c axis is normally the vertical axis. The isometric system exhibits three mutually perpendicular axes of equal length (a1, a2, and a3). The...

...about this axis by 72° leave the appearance of the grain unchanged. In a full 360° rotation the grain will repeat itself in appearance five times, once every 72°. There are also axes of twofold rotational symmetry passing through the edges and axes of threefold rotational symmetry passing through the vertices. This is also known as icosahedral symmetry because the...